Tampa Bay @ Oakland preview
Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum
Last Meeting ( Aug 20, 2010 ) Tampa Bay 4, Oakland 5
You don’t expect a No. 9 hitter to be Mr. Clutch, but Oakland Athletics shortstop Cliff Pennington has been crucial in late innings recently.
Pennington played a hand in the winning run for the third consecutive game on Friday.
Pennington’s grounder with two outs in the eighth inning was misplayed by Tampa Bay Rays second baseman Ben Zobrist putting him aboard and plating Kevin Kouzmanoff from third to lead Oakland to a 5-4 victory.
For his part, Zobrist had given the Rays a 4-3 lead in the seventh with a home run.
Pennington had a walkoff single in Wednesday’s 5-4 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays and hit a two-run double in the sixth for the go-ahead run in Thursday’s 4-3 victory over the Rays.
The A’s (61-60) will try to win the four-game series and their fifth consecutive game overall when they face Tampa Bay ace left-hander David Price on Saturday night. Oakland has won six consecutive series at home.
Price is 15-5 and has the fifth-lowest ERA in the American League (2.85). He faces Oakland’s Brett Anderson (3-4, 2.89 ERA).
Price, who has allowed three or fewer earned runs in all but two of his 22 starts this season, defeated Oakland on May 7. He gave up one run and three hits in 7 2/3 innings and also had six strikeouts in the Rays’ 4-1 victory.
Tampa Bay (74-48) missed a chance to pull even with the New York Yankees for the AL East lead and remains one game behind.
Anderson is 1-0 in two starts against the Rays – both in 2009 – but has yet to face them this season.
The left-hander allowed three runs in six innings against Toronto on Monday, losing for the third time in four starts since coming off the disabled list with inflammation in his pitching elbow.
The Rays optioned rookie Jeremy Hellickson, Friday’s starter, to Single-A Port Charlotte after the game because they plan to activate Jeff Niemann and Wade Davis from the disabled list to start next week against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
Hellickson, 23, was 3-0 with a 2.05 ERA, but will get time to work on coming out of the bullpen at Port Charlotte. He is expected to be called up Sept. 1 when rosters can expand.
Oakland received disappointing news on left fielder Conor Jackson, who is back on the 15-day disabled list with a lower abdominal injury. Jackson had just come off the disabled list on Monday after being on it since June 30 for a strained right hamstring.
He could require surgery for the abdominal injury and would essentially be out for the rest of the regular season.